


The Pride of the Lions

by StarLight_Massacre



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:28:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarLight_Massacre/pseuds/StarLight_Massacre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry hadn’t wanted it to happen. He hadn’t meant to mate with Rodolphus Lestrange of all people, but then a lot of things had happened that he hadn’t meant, but had happened regardless. Now they are in need of a new home, a permanent home and the best, most secure place they could find was Saint Louis, Missouri. The home city of Anita Blake, the Vampire Hunter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pride of the Lions

**Author's Note:**

> Author: StarLight Massacre
> 
> Title: The Pride of the Lions
> 
> Rating: M
> 
> Warning: Slash, sex, violence, threesome, language, blood, Mpreg, crossover, non-graphic rape (one scene in chapter two only), non-graphic infanticide (one scene in chapter two only).
> 
> Pairing: Rodolphus/Harry. Eventually Rodolphus/Harry/Rabastan.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K. Rowling. I do not own anything from Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter; all rights belong to Laurel K. Hamilton. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.
> 
> Summary: Harry hadn’t wanted it to happen. He hadn’t meant to mate with Rodolphus Lestrange of all people, but then a lot of things had happened that he hadn’t meant, but had happened regardless. Now they are in need of a new home, a permanent home and the best, most secure place they could find was Saint Louis, Missouri. The home city of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter.
> 
> Additional Notes: Anita Blake terminology for wereanimal leaders:
> 
> Rex – Lion king  
> Regina – Lion queen  
> Regis – Second in command (Lions)  
> Nimir-Raj – Leopard king  
> Nimir-Ra – Leopard queen  
> Ulfric – Wolf king  
> Lupa – Wolf queen  
> Sköll – First enforcer (Wolves)  
> Hati – Second enforcer (Wolves)  
> Freki – Second in command (Wolves)  
> Geri – Third in command (Wolves)  
> Rom – Rat king  
> Oba – Hyena queen  
> Kashyapa – Snake king  
> Kadra – Snake queen  
> Ursa – Bear queen
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Chapter One – In with the New, Out with the Old.

 

Harry James Potter, aged twenty, smiled at his older lover Rodolphus Lestrange, aged forty, who was growling and snarling at another male werelion.

It was a dominance fight, which meant that there was the very real possibility of one of the lions losing their lives to this fight, but Harry wasn’t worried. Rodolphus had never lost a fight since their turning and Harry had started up a regime of feeding him, strengthening him and bulking him up. Rodolphus had then further enhanced and toned himself up with weight training and stamina exercises.

Harry had thought that they were both doomed to death when their vicious duel in the final battle had taken them deep into the Forbidden Forest and truly so far into it that the only thing that could be heard was their screamed spells and curses at one another. They had been so caught up in the fight that they hadn’t realised how very far they had travelled from the castle. Then the terrible growling had started, then a sudden roar and both Harry and Rodolphus had turned to see the lionman, who had pounced on them, bitten and clawed at them until they both lay bleeding and dying side by side, falling unconscious shortly after the attack had finally stopped and the lionman had run off, frightened by one of the unnatural forest sounds which were actually common place in the magical Forbidden Forest.

Harry had woken up completely naked a few days later, he had no idea of knowing how long he had been out of it, but it had felt like several days and every single part of him ached intolerably. Rodolphus had woken up a few moments after Harry had and then the growling had started again, only this time from Rodolphus and not a stranger. They knew now that the full moon had come and gone, which was why they had been fully healed, and because they had been newly bitten, they couldn’t remember what they had done during their first shift.

Harry had felt such a bone deep ache of longing, such an overpowering, body clenching urge to have sex with Rodolphus that he threw himself at the larger, older man, who had caught him easily, pinned him down and then fucked him repeatedly until their bodies were shaking and unable to move.

They had been a mated pair ever since and they had left the battle ground and gone to Harry’s small home in the outskirts of London. There Harry had nurtured his new lover back to health from the emaciated state Azkaban had left him in, though not without a lot of fighting and shouting, a lot of soul eating guilt, a barrage of second thoughts and a whole host of problems, but they always ended up having amazing, mind blowing sex and working through their problems and fights until nothing was left but the developing love for one another and the important little things that made their relationship that much stronger.

Those early full moons were a blur of roaming around, Rodolphus hunting food for Harry, Harry offering himself up like a bitch in heat, the both of them prowling around ‘their’ territory for lurkers. They had been spotted a few times; they had read the Muggle news of the ‘escaped circus lions stalking late night walkers in London’ which had amused them greatly.

Once they had gained a bit more control of themselves and their beasts and they could actually remember what happened on the nights of the full moon, that was when they went out in search of a Pride to rule. The first person they had brought in and changed was Rodolphus’ younger brother Rabastan, who had believed that his older brother had died in the final battle and lay rotting in one of the unmarked graves somewhere. He had been a complete mess when they had found him, thin, starved, malnourished still from his time in Azkaban, completely depressed and not in a good way at all. He had been sick, not eating and close to giving up on life completely. He had accepted the change willingly once informed of his brother’s new species and what had actually happened at the final battle in which Lord Voldemort had been killed by Harry and his brother had gone missing, presumed dead.

Rabastan hadn’t actually cared about anything, not that he was Harry Potter and had killed his Lord, he didn’t care how Rodolphus was still alive, only that he _was_ actually still alive, he had just wanted Rodolphus back so he had readily agreed to become their Regis, their second in command, and Harry reluctantly agreed that if Rodolphus died, that he would mate with no fuss to Rabastan, rather than have some unknown male claim him.

In the event that both brothers died, he was instructed to run or if he was captured, to offer himself to the new Rex, or the highest male that he could, and he had liked that plan even less than the idea of mating to Rabastan. So he kept Rodolphus alive by any means necessary.

But years on from their turning, their Pride of three had grown to nine members and they were a relatively happy bunch, but every time a new lion was found or made, Rodolphus had to establish himself as the dominant male over them, he had to fight to prove his worth as Rex, as king of their lion Pride, so Harry made sure that Rodolphus and Rabastan ate well and that they trained heavily.

Harry himself had had to put the lone two females in their place as they tried to make a move on Rodolphus to gain protection from the attentions of the other males and a higher position in the Pride to boot. He also attacked them if they made a move on Rabastan, who as his potential future mate, needed to be free in case the need arose. He made sure that every new lion knew, and made sure to remind all of the lions periodically, that Rodolphus _and_ Rabastan were his and were not to be touched, least of all by jealous, shameless lionesses who thought that they could move in on _his_ territory just to gain a higher position in _his_ Pride.

Rodolphus took care of the new lion quickly, beating the upstart to a bloody pulp and emerging the victor and he returned to Harry, who kissed him passionately for all to see and rubbed noses with him in an affectionate display of congratulations on his victory.

 

“You seem worried for such bubbling confidence.” Rodolphus smirked at him as he wrapped his bloodied arms around Harry’s slim waist.

 

“I always worry for you, but you always come out of your fights on top. I won’t let you do anything less.” Harry answered with a smile.

 

Rabastan laughed and pulled Harry into a tight hug. They were actively working on making Harry comfortable with Rabastan’s touch. Innocent touches and hugs he was fine with, anything more sexual and he squirmed away, even if Rodolphus was right beside them or watching.

 

“Our Pride is getting bigger.” Harry said worriedly. “I don’t have enough bedrooms to house all of them now.”

 

“We could if you would let Rabastan into our bed.” Rodolphus hedged carefully, well aware that he was on thin ice with this subject already, and that Harry had a temper, which had only grown with the addition of his beast.

 

Harry licked his lips, looked at the man in question, who tried actively to school his face not to look at all eager, knowing that it would anger Harry, before looking to his lover, his mate, who knew that even though he was the Rex of the Pride, Harry ruled here.

Rodolphus was a powerful wizard in his own right, but he was nowhere near the power level of Harry, the destroyer of the Dark Lord. He wouldn’t have gotten half as far as he had without Harry to feed him, to build up his health and strength over the last two years and to push him to be at his physical best to win all of his dominance fights. Harry, his lovely mate, his Regina.

 

“We have a settee.” Harry pointed out stubbornly.

 

“There are two new lions, Harry. We can’t force them to stay here and not offer them a bed.”

 

“Put the bottom two of the Pride on the _floor_.” Harry hissed icily through clenched teeth. “Jensen has been acting out and Elijah just lost a dominance battle!”

 

“If I sleep between you and Rabastan.” Rodolphus countered again and Harry knew that he wouldn’t win this fight, but he’d be damned if he lost the war and had sex with Rabastan after a year of saying no. He wasn’t giving into this without a fight.

 

“Fine! Do as you please. I’m going to start dinner.”

 

Rodolphus pulled him back by his arm as he turned to stomp off and kissed him. Harry bit him and the blood excited them both, waking up both of their beasts and Harry was almost powerless to stop his beast as it rose to excite him with the blood between them. The taste of blood in his mouth, Rodolphus’ blood, hardened him almost immediately and he started rubbing against Rodolphus shamelessly. Who really cared for shame when most of the time they walked around completely naked anyway?  

Rodolphus pulled back to grin at him, turned him around and swatted his bum, getting him moving towards the kitchen.

 

“You see if you get any dessert tonight!” Harry threatened with a scowl and Rodolphus pulled up an exaggerated hurt look. Harry rolled his eyes and moved through his overcrowded house to make dinner.

 

It was the downside to being in this Pride, the cramped, overcrowded living conditions. They couldn’t let anyone leave, it only took for one hint of green eyes and a lightning bolt scar and the wizarding world would hear of it and come searching with renewed vigour and hope. Rodolphus and Rabastan, as escaped fugitives, would either be killed in the attempt to get him back or tried and imprisoned in Azkaban once more and Harry could not allow either of those things to happen, so he had adamantly forbidden anyone to leave the house, which is likely why there were so many dominance battles as stresses ran high with the lack of privacy and space, but he wouldn’t risk himself or his lover, his mate. Not even if he was trapping his Pride here like prisoners.

Harry started on making dinner for the, now eleven of them. He wouldn’t let anyone else help with the cooking, too much of a chance for poisoning or tampering, plus it meant he got to dish out who ate what for that day, Rodolphus and Rabastan would eat the lion’s share of the meal, no pun intended, and Jensen and Elijah were guaranteed to get next to nothing while Harry was so angry with them for playing up. He used the food as a weapon, he knew first hand that it was a tactic that worked from his childhood with the Dursleys and he was willing to use it now as a deterrent against the other lions to keep them from attacking and potentially killing his mate. He couldn’t risk Rodolphus’ life. He _wouldn’t_ risk his mate’s life.

Harry was the force behind the Rex, he owned Rodolphus, he had him completely wrapped around his little finger and he made Rodolphus rule the lions with an iron clenched fist because he was scared of being found. Not to get him wrong, Rodolphus had been a Death Eater, he loved the violence and the bloodshed, but it was Harry who determined where he doled out the discipline to the lions.

Harry called all of his lions for dinner and he smirked at all eight of them as they demurely deferred to him, even those who would be classed as dominant to him avoided his eyes and submitted to him. They followed his instructions on where to sit, of course Rodolphus strode in and sat at the top of the table, Rabastan sitting on his left, Harry would sit on the right. The two large men got more than the average portion size, he gave the others smaller, but decent sized amounts, except for Jensen and Elijah, whose portions would have fit on a teacup saucer.

Of course, controlling the dominant lions’ food intake also kept them weak and hungry, which also helped a lot with Rodolphus’ unavoidable dominance battles. It was all about survival tactics in the end and Harry would do anything to keep himself and the Lestrange brothers safe.

 

“This is bullshit! You can’t starve us just because you don’t like us!” Elijah screamed, his whole body shaking. He was still bleeding in some places from Rodolphus’ beating.

 

The entire Pride turned away from Elijah and dropped their gazes to the table, as if to just look at him would get them punished for association, though they were covertly peeking at their Rex and Regina from under their eyelashes to see what they would do. Weakness of any kind, even choosing to ignore the disrespect just shown to them, would be a chink in their armour in lion culture and they would be seen as weak leaders. They couldn’t allow the disrespect to stand between them and their pride.

Rodolphus calmly put his knife and fork down, wiped his mouth on a paper napkin and stood slowly so that the chair he was sat on scraped loudly and gratingly across the wooden floor, glaring at Elijah with golden lion eyes from the impressive height of six foot ten inches tall and wide enough to fit his height with wide spaced, broad shoulders, a thick chest, a tapered waist, narrow hips and large, powerful legs. He was unrecognisable from the escaped Azkaban convict who had been rail thin and emaciated, bruised, gaunt and hunched over in agony with a listless depression which had made him seem smaller and shorter, less noticeable. People definitely noticed him now, Harry thought as he smiled proudly at how far Rodolphus had come in the last few years.

 

“Do you have a problem with how I and my Regina run _our_ Pride?” He asked slowly and deadly softly, Harry staved off the pleasurable shiver that wanted to roll down his spine at the sound of that voice, it promised good sex to come later on tonight and he couldn’t wait.

 

He moved to stand beside his Rex, out of reach of the other lions, not that he feared them, he had magic and they didn’t, but Elijah had been here for less than a week, not long enough for Harry to have a good grasp on what he was like as a person. Caution in this situation was always better.

 

“I…I haven’t had a decent meal since I was turned and brought here, just because our Regina doesn’t like me.” Elijah said demurely, keeping his eyes lowered, not challenging his Rex again today as if sensing that Rodolphus’ short patience had run out and challenging him again today would mean his death.

 

“Then perhaps if you stopped trying to win the position of Rex every other day, you would get more food.” Harry snapped. “I feed you because I want to, I could order you all to scavenge for birds in the local park if I wished, but I don’t. I buy this food for you all out of my own pocket. I even prepare and cook it and serve it to you from my own table. If you do not behave, then I have no obligation to feed you, if you behave well enough, you get food. It’s a simple enough concept to grasp, Elijah.”

 

“Don’t fight me on this, Elijah; my patience is very thin at the moment so the next fight between us will be to the death.” Rodolphus threatened deeply, a frightening smile at the prospect of killing someone floating onto his kissable mouth.

 

Elijah slumped dejectedly, back into his seat and picked up his fork (only Rodolphus, Rabastan and Harry were allowed knives) and he started eating mutely. Harry sat in his own seat and ate happily, encouraging the Pride to talk, he wasn’t completely irrational just because he had uprooted them, forbidden them from seeing their friends or families, refused their requests for going to their jobs and basically kept them prisoner in a house that no one would ever find and that they all barely fit in.

He did allow them freedoms, he had a large back garden that they could get some fresh air in, though all the fences were warded to prevent escape and he, Rabastan and Rodolphus took them out to a nearby forest once a month for the full moon change where they could run free. It was easier with them as lions; they all deferred and respected their Rex and Regina in their lion forms so they listened to everything that was communicated to them in huffs, swipes of massive paws, head butts, growls and chuffs.

It was hard work, especially in the beginning, to wake up first, before the rest of the lions, but through physical training and force of habit, the three of them had managed it and they threw the unconscious Pride members into the back of two Muggle trucks, one driven by Rodolphus, the other by Rabastan. It had taken a while to get them their licences though and it had needed considerable help from magical talents to cheat a full licence out of the DVLA.

Harry set the two women of the Pride to washing the dishes and went to relax with Rodolphus, ignoring the hopeful looks sent his way by Rabastan. Harry climbed onto Rodolphus’ lap, ignoring their nudity and snuggled in, raining attention on his mate’s body with light fingers, teasing kisses and the tip of his tongue.

 

“You want something.” Rodolphus growled, holding Harry tightly.

 

Harry sighed, resting his head on Rodolphus’ chest, just above his nipple.

 

“We need to move.”

 

“What have you heard?” Rabastan asked with an unhideable thread of tension in his voice, coming to sit on the arm of the chair that Rodolphus was sat in.

 

All of them knew what would happen if the wizarding world found them, but they had been reluctant to move before now because of the protection this house offered and more than that, it was their home and Harry and Rodolphus had some very fond memories here.

 

“Nothing, but the stress is killing me. I hate treating the Pride like this. Most of them don’t deserve this. I’m sure if we looked we could find a permanent home? A home we would be safe in, I can’t live like this anymore.”

 

Harry looked up at Rodolphus in a show of asking permission, but all three of them knew that what Harry wanted, Harry got. Always.

 

“I’ll start scouting.” Rodolphus rumbled.

 

Harry smiled gratefully. “Thank you.” He murmured sincerely.

 

“It’ll have to be somewhere with good defences.” Rabastan said softly, thinking, planning everything through in his head. “Perhaps a weak Pride that we can take over with minimal losses, we’ll need real dominants though, fighters.”

 

“That’s dangerous.” Harry shot down. “What if they turn on us? Most people don’t appreciate being turned into wereanimals.”

 

“Then why not round up all the rogues that are struggling to survive? They’d owe us a debt then.”

 

“They’re rogues for a reason!” Harry said angrily. “Usually for violence within the Pride, most of them are rogues because they’re queen killers that have somehow managed to escape retribution from the Rex!”

 

“No one will hurt you. You’re a stronger Queen than any of the pathetic females floating around.” Rodolphus said, stroking Harry’s back gently. “Most rogues only kill their Regina because they’re the Rex’s Wife or girlfriend, not a real Regina. Some Prides’ Regina’s aren’t even werelions! Can you imagine? Then the other Pride members feel frustrated that they only have a real king and not a mated pair, it must be frustrating and humiliating to have a Regina who isn’t even a lion or doesn’t understand the culture or lifestyle of the lions. Try to see it from their eyes, having to take orders from a human Regina, anyone would lash out at that. So yes, I’m confident that even if they are queen killers, it was because they had a pathetic queen, or even a human one, someone not like you, my love, you’re the backbone of this Pride and everyone can see that, they all know it.”

 

Harry licked his lips and nodded. “Okay, we get the rogues, but we need to control them.”

 

“Oh we will, but not enough to make them hate and resent us like this first Pride.”

 

“What are we going to do with this Pride?” Rabastan asked, a gleam in his eyes that said he already knew what the answer was and it excited him.

 

“Kill them.” Harry whispered hauntedly. “We have to kill them and start again.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

 

It was a blood bath that Harry would rather not have dealt with. It wasn’t a fair fight; it wasn’t dignified or even remotely honourable. They waited for the next full moon to rise and wane and then, when their Pride members were all unconscious after the change back from werelions to humans, they woke up before them as usual, but instead of loading them up into the trucks and putting them into their beds back at the house, they slaughtered them where they lay. None of them stood a chance; they weren’t even awake or conscious to defend themselves.

Harry felt sick once they were done and he sobbed onto Rodolphus’ chest, his mate who was feeling more alive and happy than he had in a while. He wouldn’t have to fight for dominance every single day anymore, at least not for a while. If they had a real, proper, established Pride, then all the horror and tension would ease away, it was only because they were forced to be in such close contact with one another that the Pride didn’t work and had fallen to pieces. He wanted this next Pride to work, he was older now, he had been turned for longer, he had his brother as his enforcer and the strongest wizard alive as his mate, this next Pride would be for real, everything that had come before was just practice in his book.

 

“I…I want to leave. Now.” Harry whimpered, burying his face more into Rodolphus’ chest, ignoring the blood that covered them both.

 

Rodolphus led Harry to the trucks and climbed in, pulling a pair of loose jogging bottoms on so he wasn’t pulled over by the Muggle police. Harry waved a hand and the blood vanished, again so they weren’t stopped by the police, who would care more about the blood on them rather than their state of undress.

 

“It had to be done, Harry.” Rodolphus tried.

 

“I know that!” Harry snapped. “I was the one who suggested it after all, but…they trusted us, Rodolphus. They trusted us to look after them and care for them and we just killed them all as they trustingly slept next to us as their Pride leaders!”

 

“Our next Pride will be better, stronger. We’ll find a permanent home far away from Britain so you will never have to worry again.”

 

“Promise.” Harry breathed softly, seeking reassurance from his lover, his king.

 

“I promise, my Queen.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

 

Harry refused to allow the thoughts of his previous Pride to rule him; instead he focused on his new Pride and he threw himself into caring for them and their needs. He, Rodolphus and Rabastan had taken two weeks after killing their old Pride to scout out a permanent home. From the grapevine they heard that Saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States of America, was a very strong, very impenetrable city with a tight knit preternatural community. Why had they chosen this seemingly unconquerable city as their new home? The whispers floating around were that their lion Pride was very small and incredibly weak and that they relied heavily on the other wereanimal species of the city and a human woman to protect them from attacks and threats. It was like a glaring target over their heads, inviting other werelion Prides’ to come in and take them over, such weakness was so tempting, it was too good an opportunity to miss out on.

The lions were the only thing letting Saint Louis’ defences down, everything else was solid, they had huge forces of werewolves, wererats and werehyenas, their wereleopards, which had once been _under_ the werelion Pride, were steadily gaining strength after a merging of Pards when one Pard’s Nimir-Raj fell in love with the other Pard’s Nimir-Ra, or the leopard king fell for the leopard queen and then merged their Pards together and made their home in Saint Louis.

According to one source, the Saint Louis Pride was so weak, that only two members were able to fight, the two Rexes’ of the Pride, two brothers who jointly ruled their Pride in a male coalition like some male lions would do in the wild. Harry grinned at the irony that the brothers of the Saint Louis Pride were so weak, yet the Lestrange brothers had made their Pride so very, very strong.

Rodolphus was constantly scratched up, scabbed or bleeding these days as he forced every single werelion they found, who needed help and wanted to be back in a Pride, to bow to him and the hierarchy. Rabastan had also had a few battles for his position as second to Rodolphus. Luckily he had won his battles too, his weight training and good diet paying off as well as the sparring he did with Rodolphus and the other lions.

Whilst they were doing battle to affirm the hierarchy, Harry was setting everything in order. Going through the goblins to get what he wanted, what he needed and to move everything he owned over to America, Saint Louis to be exact, so that he could set up a new home.

The goblins were willing to help him, overlooking his break in when he was a teenager because he was causing stress to the wizards as the whole wizarding world thought that he was dead, something they liked, and because once he had first gone back to the bank after he had been bitten and settled down with Rodolphus, he had not only told them exactly how he had broken in so that they could tighten their security further, but he had also given them permission to take all the goblin made items from all of his vaults. It helped immensely that this little clause included the Lestrange vault too as Harry was mated to Rodolphus, the Head of the Lestrange family, something which was acknowledged and classed by the goblins as higher than marriage, so everything that was his was Rodolphus’ and everything that was Rodolphus’ was Harry’s, including bank vaults. It just so happened that the Lestrange’s had a lot of goblin made items, so he and the goblins had been able to come to a very happy agreement and settle their differences. Though naturally Harry had omitted to mention to them that Gryffindor’s sword was in a tightly warded trunk at his home, he had claimed to them that it was lost during the mess and mayhem of the final battle and he felt no remorse in dropping Neville into the proverbial shit by telling the goblins that he’d seen Neville with it last, as he killed Voldemort’s snake.

It was almost a year now after everything that had happened, almost a year since they had killed their old Pride, almost a year since they had found Saint Louis, which was still as weak as ever, though now there were rumours floating around on the grapevine of a dominant male in Chicago wanting to take over, so they had to move fast. They had to take over the Saint Louis Pride and then block all attempts by the Chicago lion to take them over. But they had come on so well. Their new Pride was twenty-eight strong and Rodolphus and Rabastan, instead of beating them down, were earning their respect as leaders and then training them to fight.

Every new lion they had in their care knew of their plans to take over an existing Pride in America to settle in as a permanent home, they knew that this situation in the overcrowded house was temporary. All of them would have a permanent home, a permanent city to live in, with opportunities for families, jobs…real lives. A new start for all of them, a new start that they all desperately wanted and needed.

The new Pride also knew of what had happened to their first Pride, they hadn’t told them to frighten them, but to build up their trust and respect by not hiding such a hideous skeleton under the rug, so they had admitted to what they had done, had told them of it and their new Pride knew that the three of them were willing to do anything to succeed, even kill the lot of them, to get what they wanted.

Of course Harry, Rodolphus and Rabastan were still the very first to wake up after a full moon, though some of the older, more dominant lions could wake up earlier than their inferiors, it still wasn’t nearly enough to beat Harry, who always woke up first, even from that very first full moon. It was like a warning to the other lions, when they woke up back in their beds or floor spaces, they had done it once, they could do it again, but they didn’t want to. Not this time.

They took care of their Pride this time around, even allowing the one rogue to keep his mate, a submissive; even though they had said explicitly that they wouldn’t have any submissives in their Pride until after they had established themselves in Saint Louis. But that particular dominant was now very thankful to them; it always helped to have those truly loyal around them.

In fact, most of the dominants were thankful to them for taking them in, even if they didn’t have enough beds now for all of them. Most were so thankful that they offered up their complete and utter loyalty for a hot shower and a nice meal, of which Harry still bought the food, prepared it, cooked it and then served it himself.

Of course, because Rodolphus was a very accomplished Occlumens, he knew what his lions were thinking at any time he cared to look; he knew who was truly loyal, who was playing at being loyal and who was saying what behind their backs. Harry had never been any good at the mind arts and neither had Rabastan, but Rodolphus didn’t need to read their minds, not that he could, they knew just enough to know if anyone tried to break into their minds, so where Rodolphus could look into their minds if he really wanted to, he’d have to break into them forcefully and that would mean that Harry and Rabastan would feel the intrusion and then Harry would curse the fuck out of him for it, so he wouldn’t even try, but the other lions, those were fair game and they didn’t feel a damn thing as Rodolphus easily slipped into their heads and delved into their thoughts and memories.

It was rather amusing letting Rabastan have some fun for a change. Rodolphus had ‘read’ that a small group of lions were planning an internal takeover, aiming to get him, Harry and Rabastan while they slept just after they conquered Saint Louis. They were telling the other lions that the three of them were using them all to take Saint Louis and were then going to kill them all like they had their last Pride, so they, the lions, had to plan to act first and kill their three rulers first, before their rulers killed them. They obviously didn’t realise that Harry warded their bedroom every single night without fail and would continue to do so every single night, even after they arrived in Saint Louis. He had lived through a war, he was not about to get sloppy. Moody’s loud, random and often frightening screams of ‘constant vigilance’ had well and truly sunk home over the years.

Rodolphus called two lions forward in the meeting he had pulled together, he told them that they were now responsible for laundry; he called two more forward and told them that they were on dish washing duty for the week. He called four of the strongest forward and told them that they were in charge of training the other lions until further notice as he himself now needed to focus more on the settlement of their permanent home. He called another four forward and put them on tidying the house and then it was time for the real reason this meeting had been called.

 

“Finally, Keanu, Gareth, Luke and Nathan.” 

 

Harry looked at them stony faced, four of the most mismatched lions he had seen. They looked at each other, worried about what it meant that the four of them had been chosen together out of the twenty other lions that could have been picked.

 

“What job would you have us do, Rex?” Nathan asked demurely.

 

Harry smiled. The leader and organiser of the group always spoke first.

 

“You four are planning to kill me, my Regina and my Regis just after we fight with our lives to take over Saint Louis for our Pride.”

 

There were outcries from their loyal lions, denials from the four and silence from the three standing before the accused, watching them bleat and plead dispassionately.

 

“I know what you are planning, this is our house, the house owned by my Regina, we know what goes on in this house and the penalty for betrayal such as this is death. Rabastan.”

 

Rabastan happily acted in his role as enforcer, disciplinarian and brother to Rodolphus and wannabe lover of Harry. He slaughtered the lions for the safety of their Pride, Rodolphus standing regally to kill the leader of the group of upstarts himself, as wereanimal politics dictated he should, and they were safe once more.

 

“Will we move to strike Saint Louis soon, my Rex?” One of their most loyal lions, Dillon, asked softly, tentatively after the awesome display of might and power that had been put on before them, trying not to sound demanding in any way, being respectful and submissive to his king, but inquiring about their new home anyway. Harry liked Dillon.

 

“We need to replace this lot first.” Rodolphus grunted, accepting the question from one of his fellow lions. “A few more lions, they’ll need some training up first whilst Harry finishes some last minute plans and gets some more needed supplies. We need to be armed and we will be. Cole, you need to step up the training of the others with firearms, give them more intensive training, we need to be able to use them in America and keep up with the natives. We were going to tell you all at the end of the week, but we already have accommodation set up for when we land in Saint Louis, just in case we need it. We have the needed provisions, we have a solid plan of attack and a good, flexible defence plan to stop any immediate retribution attacks, once those are all tightened up and finalised, we’ll make our move. I’ll give it a month at a rough estimate, perhaps two if the new lions don’t settle in well enough, before we move to take Saint Louis for our own.”

 

“It won’t be long now.” Harry whispered into the silence left by Rodolphus’ speech.

 

All of them were eager for a permanent home, the longing they felt for this safe, protected home was almost too much to bear, but they had to do it right, they had to plan this right or they could end up failing or suffering unimaginable losses, something that Harry would not accept.

He had Rabastan going over and over the plans of attack and defence, making plans C and D to go with A and B, just in case. They even had a plan of action to get their Pride back to England, back to this house, just in case things were blown right out of the water and they were utterly decimated for any reason. It was incredibly unlikely that that would happen in the first place, in fact it was almost laughable, but Harry wouldn’t take that chance, he wouldn’t take that needless risk, instead he had Rabastan make a plan of retreat as well, so they had a clear way back to England just in case it was needed, though they all hoped that it wasn’t. They wanted this new home, they needed the new start. Failing now would destroy them and their budding morale, they couldn’t stay in this house like this, with so many of them, for much longer and he refused to have a repeat of his first Pride.

It wouldn’t be long now, but it would feel long enough. They’d waited a very, very long time for this; they wouldn’t lose it now that they were so very close to obtaining what they’d always wanted, what they’d dreamed about for so long. It was so close now that Harry’s heart raced with excitement and want every time he let himself imagine himself in this new, safe home, living how he was supposed to with his mate, his king. Not in these cramped conditions with thirty other lions, all of them big, burly, brutish men who were constantly on testosterone hits from the continuous sparring and fighting to prepare them for the takeover.

He’d finally be able to be just Harry, his life would finally be able to start over again at last and he was happy that he was sharing that life with Rodolphus, and really to a lesser extent Rabastan as well. Rodolphus loved his younger brother, and in a way that no brother should ever feel for another, their brotherly love was twisted and warped into something that was passionate and lustful. Not that Harry judged them for it, he knew that their early childhood hadn’t been the best and that they’d only had one another to rely on, then they’d been sent to Azkaban young, where again they had nothing and no one but each other. But Harry knew in his heart that if Rodolphus was to ever be truly happy, then he had to be with his brother as well, which meant that he, Harry, had to really work to try and accept Rabastan into his bed and into his heart as a lover, as a second mate, and not as a brother-in-law, because he did want to make Rodolphus truly happy. His mate deserved some happiness in his life, the both of them did, so Harry needed to stop being a roadblock between them both and he needed to get over himself and his issues and take on Rabastan as a mate too.

It was going to be hard work, it was going to take some considerable change of his mental morals, but together they were stronger, he couldn’t allow any dissent or separation of them to pull apart their Pride and he loved Rodolphus, for him he could do absolutely anything, he could even kill for Rodolphus if the situation called for it, surely adding in another lover so that his king was happy was the least he could do, it wasn’t as if Rabastan wasn’t a strong, handsome man, because he was. He looked like Rodolphus’ twin, only younger and slightly shorter, slightly less bulky, but they looked close enough that surely he could let go of his morals a little and try, for Rodolphus’ sake, for the sake of their Pride, to accept Rabastan as his mate. He owed it to them to try and provide the strongest upper hierarchy that he could, so for that reason alone, he would try, but he would not give in immediately, he would take it slowly and work on getting more comfortable with Rabastan first, otherwise this was never going to work, but a new home meant a new start for all of them, it was time that he explored his Rex’s need to be with him and his brother together. For Rodolphus, he could do anything.

 

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**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is a TEASER only. This first chapter is to gauge reaction and interest; this will not be updated until my other fics are finished, which I’m hoping will be soon. So let me know what you think and/or feel about this and hopefully soon I will add more and more chapters to it. I want to know your honest opinions and thoughts and I hope you have enjoyed this and my take on a more…animalistic Harry who is mated, unintentionally at first, to Rodolphus Lestrange.  
> I hope to see you lovelies soon; in the mean time you can join me on my Facebook page if you wish, I’m there under the name StarLight Mass, until then,
> 
> StarLight Massacre. X


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